Knicks draft watch: J'Covan Brown

Peter G. Aiken/US PRESSWIRETexas combo guard J'Covan Brown can drive the lane, and even though his point guard skills are still raw, the ability to penetrate can be too good to ignore.

Long
after Kentucky's Anthony Davis and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist or Kansas' Thomas
Robinson are off the board, June's NBA Draft will be about filling specific
needs; and that's where the Knicks find themselves. Without a first-round pick,
general manager Glen Grunwald will be forced to make the most out of the 48th
overall selection. And because the Knicks gave $3 million to the Washington
Wizards in the Ronny Turiaf trade, the team is forbidden from buying a pick in
this year's draft, which is an avenue the team has used in the past.

With
that in mind, here is a new series designed to prepare Knicks fans for the
upcoming draft. This isn't a wish list, it's a realistic look at how the team
can help itself going forward; and we invite you to give your input as well.
Please tell us what you think in the comment section below.

Knicks fans are pleading for more depth at point guard. Even if general
manager Glen Grunwald can retain Jeremy Lin—something he told the media will
happen—there's a good chance he might have to use the mid-level exception to do
so; in which case signing a free agent point guard would be extremely
difficult.

That's why the 48th overall selection in this June's draft
is so important for the Knicks. Like the Sacramento Kings, who discovered a
solid point guard, Isaiah Thomas, with the final pick of the 2011 NBA Draft,
the Knicks could add significant piece to their backcourt rotation.

New York worked out such a player in Texas combo guard J'Covan Brown on
Tuesday. Like Thomas—whose 5-8 frame and shoot-first-mentality scared off 29
other teams—Brown has some obstacles to climb before he can get into the NBA.

Brown is generously listed at 6-1, he played shooting guard at Texas,
there are questions about his shot selection and he never averaged more than
3.8 assists per game in any of his three collegiate seasons.

Brown did score 20.1 ppg with the Longhorns last season, largely
because he could get into the lane—and that's where he shares his biggest
similarity with Thomas.

Thomas averaged 12.8 field goal attempts per game in his second season
at Washington and finished the season averaging 16.9 points and just 3.2
assists per game. He went on to nearly double his assist average in 2010-2011,
but the point is, Thomas was originally a shoot-first guard who could get into
the lane.

In his first season in the NBA, however, Thomas averaged just 8.8 field
goal attempts per game (.34 shots per minute as opposed to .4 shots per minute
over his three-year college career) and finished the season averaging 4.1
assists per game (Thomas was fifth among rookies this season with an assist
rate of 26.0).

And it's quite feasible that Brown could make that same transition.
Both players can get into the lane, but when Thomas became a professional—and
maybe during his final season at Washington—the squat point guard began dishing
instead of shooting.

Brown told the media on Tuesday that he'll do whatever's asked of him.

"Whatever coach wants me to do. I'm that type of player," he said. "I'm
a team player. It's always team first with me so whatever coach feels like I
should do, I'm willing to do it. If he wants me to walk over water, I'd do it,
just to be on a team and just say I'm a part of a big team like this."

Brown said he defended point guards, shooting guards and small forwards
in college, but admitted he needs to get "quicker and smarter at the defensive
end."

Thomas actually began bulking up to play in the NBA so bigger point
guards couldn't post him up as easily and it appears to have worked somewhat. For
the most part, he wasn't a defensive liability.

It's hard for any player—particularly an undersized point guard—to make
the same transition from college that Thomas made, but Brown shares many of the
Sacramento rookie's qualities. If he can adapt like Thomas has, there's no
telling what he could accomplish in the NBA.

Brown will need to go from taking 4.4 shots per game—as he did with the
Longhorns last season—and improve upon his measly assist numbers, but crazier
things have happened.

Let's face it. You can teach a player to pass instead of shooting the
ball, but a player's ability to penetrate is a rare skill that is completely
out of the coach's hands.